Connacht coach Andy Friend is looking for a fighting response, particularly at the breakdown, when they face Munster in Thomond Park tomorrow evening (6pm ).
After their 21-50 loss to Leinster, Friend says Connacht now need to muscle up against a Munster outfit known for its physicality.
"I want us to have a bit more fight," he says. "I know if you put a 120 kilo man up against a 100 kilo man, the 120 man is most likely going to win it, but I want that bloke to know he's actually been in a fight.
"We are not going to become the most physical team overnight, but I want every single collision we go into to be a maximum collision, and I want the opposition to know whoever has hit them, has meant it.
"We can sit back and say we are not going to win those battles, or we can do something about it, so the intention is to do something about it rather than cower in the corner and keep copping punches.
"We need to stand up and start throwing a few punches ourselves. That is the intention. If we win on Friday, Munster have won two games, we have won two games, and we put ourselves right back in the mix."
After once again conceding tries from mauls and coughing up possession at the breakdown, Friend says it is not about changing the game plan, nor is it a technical issue.
"It's about accuracy and desire to protect our ball. You know Munster are going to send one, two or possibly three to protect it, so we are not going to throw more numbers into it, we don't need to. We need just need to be more violent when we get there. We just need to turn up quickly when there is a breakdown and make sure their jackal is null and void, and secondly, when there is a second shove, we are like a rock, not moving. That is all attitude and that is what we want to see on Friday night."
Fortunately for Friend, lock Ultan Dillane is expected to return to play this week against Munster. Captain Jarrad Butler is going through return to play protocols for concussion, while wing Alex Wootton is also available. Matt Healy, however, was to have a scan on his jaw following Saturday's defeat to Leinster.
That game was "really frustrating" given that Connacht were 16-0 up after 14 minutes and then conceded four tries in 13 minutes.
"All the pressure was on Leinster and we opened up an opportunity for them way too easily. It came off the restart and we didn't focus on the ball carrier and then got turned over. Within 15 seconds they scored under the sticks. As hard as we had worked for our points to get field position and to get the try and the three penalties, just like that it changed."
That, he says should have been a jolt to say "we've got to wake up now, we've got to make sure we muscle up a bit, but we didn't. And so there are a few wounded people here, myself included."
Connacht had opened with two early penalties from outhalf Conor Fitzgerald within six minutes, and it got even better when scrumhalf Caolan Blade intercepted to race through from the 22 for the first try. Fitzgerald's conversion and a third penalty looked promising for Friend's side. But that was as good as it got as Connacht conceded 33 unanswered points from five tries in the opening half with a Hugo Keenan brace, James Tracy from an unstoppable maul, and one each from Ross Molony, and Cian Kelleher for a 33-16 lead at the break.
Newly selected Lion Andrew Porter added his name to the try tally from a driving maul, as did Scott Fardy. Connacht did carve opportunities, but Dave Heffernan was held up, and a Connacht five metre line-out went awry. Abraham Papalii's injected go-forward ball, but Connacht could only muster a 70th minute try from Peter Sullivan as Leinster eased home to a 50-21 victory.
Connacht, Friend says, has to be better. "To compete against the better sides, the game is physical, the game is about putting your head in dark places and being violent when you have to be violent, within the laws, and we need to find that."
It will be a necessity against a Munster outfit on Saturday whose stock and trade is physicality and mauls. Expect Connacht to up their defence, their line-speed, and try to get in their faces as they did on the last occasion in Thomond Park. Connacht came so close on that day, losing 20-17.
Connacht: J Porch, P Sullivan, S O’Brien, T Daly, M Healy, C Fitzgerald, C Blade; D Buckley, D Heffernan, F Bealham, N Murray, G Thornbury, E Masterson, C Oliver, J Butler (C ).Replacements: O McNulty for Healy and A Papali'i for Butler (30m ), M Burke for Buckley and D Robertson-McCoy for Bealham (57 ), C Prendergast for Oliver and S Arnold for Porch (55 ), K Marmion for Blade and J Murphy for Heffernan (both 64 ).
Leinster: H Keenan, C Kelleher, G Ringrose, C Frawley, D Kearney, R Byrne, L McGrath (C ), P Dooley, J Tracy, A Porter, R Molony, S Fardy, J Murphy, S Penny, J Conan.Replacements: R O’Loughlin for Frawley (36m ), D Sheehan for Dooley, E Byrne for Tracey, T Furlong for Porter, J Larmour for Byrne (all 54 ), R Osborne for McGrath and R Baird for Murphy (63 ).
